Bittersweet
by unprettyprincess
Summary: When TNA newcomer Emily is paid by Vince McMahon to secretly spy on TNA for WWE's sake, the roster begins to harass her. When AJ Styles has a soft spot for her, he must choose ultimately between Emily or TNA itself...AJStylesOC
1. Root of All Evil

TITLE: Bittersweet

RATING: PG-13 or T, whichever you prefer

CONTENT: Sensuality, some language, harming of a helpless woman

DISCLAIMER: I own Emily Hollings and no one else.

PLOT: When 23-year old newcomer to TNA, Emily Hollings, is secretly paid by the WWE to take notes on TNA's talent and wrestlers, the roster soon finds out, and they begin to harass her and ask her questions that she can't answer. That is, until, she is saved and falls into a bittersweet relationship with AJ Styles, who must choose between his career and her…

SIDE NOTE: This may sound sappy but it's the best I could do. Ever since I started watching TNA I've always wanted to make an AJ Styles fanfic. Enjoy. :D

"Now," Vince McMahon said, handing Emily Hollings a pen. "I understand you don't work with us, but this whole TNA vs. WWE war has been going on too long now."

Emily played with her fingers. "I feel bad doing this," she said.

"Yes, but if you'd like to make some extra money it's the only way. You're just a new girl to TNA; you don't get paid as that much anyway."

He was right. She loved TNA but they kind of treated her as the underdog. Now McMahon was offering her a simple job: watch, kind of take notes on TNA's management and wrestlers to keep track of them. It seemed kind of lame to her, but to McMahon it seemed genius to spy on TNA like this.

Emily felt guilty doing it. She did need some money but it just felt like she was being greedy. She was scared too, that TNA would find out and she would get fired. She loved her job too much to get fired.

_If I love my job, why am I doing this?_

She tensioned up a bit while signing the deal with McMahon. What if management didn't find out but the roster did? They would all be mad at her…and there were plenty of dangerous men on the roster for sure.

- - -

Emily walked out of the WWE arena and got to her car. She checked the trunk and, for some reason, the back seat before getting in.

She got in the seat and looked in the mirror. That's what her life was like, make sure you look hot, make an impression, and for God's sake don't get in the wrestler's way. She had light brown hair with a perm; blue eyes, and was small, very thin. She feared one day she'd get too skinny and wouldn't be attractive anymore, because that was her job, to be pretty all the time.

That Thursday there was a TNA show, and Emily went to work. She got out a pen and paper and tuned in to just about everything management was saying. _Like that's going to do anything for McMahon, you moron,_ she thought to herself. Time to take notes on some matches.

Of course, she couldn't go out there without being noticed. And hell no, she didn't want the wrestlers to notice her writing on a piece of paper during a match. They'd think she was writing a poem on them or something.

But then again, there was no other way.

So she went up to the stage. There was a match going on – Christopher Daniels vs. Samoa Joe. Daniels was on the turnbuckle, but he noticed Emily.

"Em?" He called out.

She didn't answer, but went backstage again. She wrote down what she saw and took a breath. She was scared, very scared. How was she going to _do this_?

She went back up and sat at the edge of the ramp, hiding so they wouldn't see her. The fans and commentators noticed, and by the looks of their faces she knew they were talking about her.

The fans started pointing and yelling at her and Daniels noticed her again. Samoa Joe used the distraction to cheap shot Daniels and make him tap out. Emily gulped, and wondered what his reaction would be later on. Joe stalked up the stage and noticed her hiding. He stopped to look at her for a second, and then went backstage. She followed after him and went to the women's locker room.

- - -

_Author's Note: _I wanted to write more but didn't have time. Yes, this story is supposed to symbolize that greed gets you nowhere. Hope you guys like it so far.


	2. A Little Scared

After the show Emily went out to the parking lot and confronted Christopher Daniels.

"What were you doing out there, Em?"

"Just watching," she answered, getting in her car. "I was really bored."

"You made me lose," he said angrily. "That match was for the X Division title. And what were you writing? A poem?"

"None of your business," she answered, and started her car. He looked at her suspiciously before going to his own car.

- - -

Next week, to be safer, she came out on a Women's match (which was infrequent nowadays in TNA) – Traci vs. Gail Kim. Gail looked rather pissed at her for interfering, and while Traci looked confused, she kept her balance and won the match. Em had plenty of notes on that match. She went backstage quickly after it was over, making sure Traci or Gail couldn't catch up to her.

She ran into Jeff Jarrett's crew instead and instantly tried to hide the notepad.

"What do you got there?" Jarrett asked, trying to look around Emily's back. "Nothing," she answered. "Leave me alone."

Coach D'Amore of Team Canada slapped her lightly on the face. "Don't think we didn't see you last week," he said. "You cost Daniels the title. And this week you cost Gail her match."

She backed away from them, somewhat frightened. "What's wrong?" Jarrett asked in a baby voice. "Are you scared?" He took a jab at her with his hand, and missed, but it made her scream. They all laughed.

"Don't hurt me," she said, holding up her hands.

"If you show us what you're doing, then we won't hurt you," D'Amore said. "We promise."

Em didn't want to show them the notes. Even if they didn't hurt her now, if they found out what she was doing they probably would sooner or later. Not fun. Her instincts told her to run.

She did, in a completely unexpected sprint towards the exit of the building. They yelled at her, but when she looked behind they weren't there. They must've decided that it wasn't worth it, and she hoped it stayed that way.

- - -

Emily went home that evening and took the next week off. She emailed McMahon everything she wrote down, and he gave her the pay. Nice pay. Money, she loved it.

She received a couple of phone calls that week from – believe it or not – Jarrett. How he got her phone number, she wasn't sure, but she was pissed off at him. She picked up the phone a couple of times, and he proceeded to ask her when she was coming back, and if she was bringing her little pen and paper with her.

Damn.

The calls slowed after a couple of days. Only when they stopped completely did she return to TNA.

She was there on Thursday for a taping, and was hiding in the Women's locker room most the time. This was sad in her case because she knew she had more to do than just being there. She had to follow storylines. Wrestle. All that different stuff. And she had to write on the matches, too – she can't take notes if she wasn't looking down on a match, now could she?

She came out on an Abyss vs. Rhino match. It took her awhile to find out that she was shaking violently while standing up there on the ramp, scared to death that these two huge, obviously ruthless men would attack her. James Mitchell, who was at ringside, noticed and yelled at her. She ignored him.

Abyss won the match. Rhino was left in the ring breathing heavily, and she kind of felt sorry for him. She went backstage again before Abyss and Mitchell could follow her.

She went to the Women's locker room and encountered Jackie Gayda.

"Sorry about Jeff and all," she said. "I think he was just curious. He seems to be over it now."

"It's alright," Emily responded. "I was getting kind of scared."

Jackie was silent for a moment.

"I must admit, what are you doing, interfering on those matches?"

Emily immediately got a little defensive. "That's my business and no one else's."

"C'mon," Jackie begged. "I won't tell anybody, I swear."

_Tell her,_ the voice inside her head said. _You want to tell her._

"Did Jarrett set this up?" Emily asked. "You're going to tell him afterwards, aren't you?"

"No!" Jackie said. "C'mon, Em. I know you're doing something wrong, because if you weren't, you wouldn't be so protective about it, would you? Show me the notes."

Emily had Jackie totally figured out. Like Jackie would give a crap if Em kept interfering in matches in the first place, and plus, if Jackie refused to ask Emily about the notes under Jarrett's orders, he would put the oh-so-mysterious-and-embarrassing tape on the internet.

"You're right," Emily said, breaking the silence. "I might be doing something against TNA's orders, but if I am, it's none of Jeff's business. Tell him I said that."

Before Jackie had a chance to respond, Emily turned her heel and left the room.

- - -

_I'm a priest for the poorest sacrifice.  
I am but a raft in a sea of sorrow and greed.  
You bathed in my wine. Drank from my cup, mocked my rhyme.  
You slit tongues licked my aching wounds.  
Put a stake through my heart!  
And drag me into sunlight.  
So awake for your greed!  
As you're slaying the dreamer._

- - -

_Author's Note: _Okay, no AJ Styles yet! But he and Em catch each other's eyes in the next chapter. This story will probably be a lot shorter than my WWE ones because this is my first TNA fic. The song at the end is a song by female-fronted metal band Nightwish, and it's called **Slaying the Dreamer. **The song is awesome, and I thought it'd suit the moment. Well let me know what you guys think of this chapter!


	3. More Than A Friend

It was the same thing for three weeks for Emily. By then she was having nightmares. For some reason management never bothered to ask her what she was doing. Why was she making all these men and women lose their matches just because she stood up on a ramp taking notes? Why should they care?

The words flashed in her head all of a sudden:

_What if it was you?_

Heh, the little voice was right. If Emily was in a match, and some other young woman came out and started writing, what would Em do? She would be curious. These men are just curious, but in a harmful way.

The next week she was put in a match against Gail Kim. Jarrett obviously asked management for that.

Obviously enough, she lost the match due to the interference of America's Most Wanted, and was bummed out by the loss. She stalked backstage afterwards, with a bruised hand and a busted lip.

She turned one of the doors leading down a hall, and slammed right into AJ Styles.

She looked directly in his eyes. Wow. AJ Styles. That was the one man she never took notes on, because she never felt the need to -- she didn't want him to hate her like the rest of them did. He was a hot shot in TNA wrestling though.

"Sorry," she said, and moved to get around him. He grabbed her arm gently.

"It's alright," he said, "but are you? You look pretty busted up; you need a drink or something?"

Emily blushed. She loved that Georgia accent. "A drink would be nice, but I don't want make you pay for it."

"I don't mind paying," he said, "so what do you like? Coke? Root beer?"

"Just water."

He bought her water and gave her ice for the bruise, and then he just left with a simple "bye". That was the first time someone had ever brought up a conversation with Em without mentioning the notes. She silently thanked him for that.

- - -

Next week she felt better and decided to not take notes on any matches. She kept the notes with her, however, just in case she heard any gossip from management or the athletes. She caught eyes with Styles about three different times that night – he even began to call her by her first name. It sounded good coming from his mouth.

After the show she went over to a nearby table to write some notes. She was barely there for a minute before a large hand grabbed the back of her head and slammed her face-first into the wall. The man pushed her to the wall with all his weight to the point where she could barely breathe.

James Mitchell appeared at her side.

"You think this is funny?" He said. "Do you get a kick out of interfering in Abyss's matches? You've been making him lose the last two weeks because of your damn distractions! What the hell are you writing on those notes?" The man squishing her, most obviously Abyss, let out a loud snarl near her ear.

Emily was crying.

"Tell him to let me go," she said. "I've seen him, I know what he's capable of, don't hurt me please--"

"Give me those notes," Mitchell said. "Give me the notes and he won't hurt you."

She retorted. "Let me go or you don't get any notes."

"Give me the notes or he never lets go."

She couldn't fight with that. She pulled the notes out and gave them to Mitchell grudgingly. He began to read through them, flipping through each page faster, seeming entranced in them, furious—

"Mitchell!"

He looked up at her. "Get your buddy here off me," she said.

He simply ran through the notes again, his eyes wide. After two minutes or so he shoved them in her face.

"This isn't funny!" He yelled, "You've betrayed TNA! Why don't you just get out of here and go to WWE if you care so much about them! Wait until the rest of the guys hear about this, it won't be so funny then."

He looked from the notes, to Abyss, to Emily. He whispered something to Abyss, who hadn't even gentled his hold on her. Then Mitchell walked off, leaving them two there. Abyss flipped her over and looked in her eyes like a crazy man. He grabbed her arm and twisted it to an odd angle. He continued twisting it with all his might until a stomach-turning crack came from her body. She let out a piercing scream and fell to the ground. He stared at her screaming, tear-stained face for a moment.

Then he just walked off.

- - -

Emily was at the hospital afterwards, with doctors leaning over her arm. Her elbow was nearly broken in two but thankfully it was only halfway broken. Her brother came to see her, but only stayed 15 minutes due to his work.

When he left, she never felt lonelier in her life, just sitting there on the bed in a cast, all the lights blinding her.

Then the door opened, and AJ Styles poked his head in.

_Why is he here?_ She thought. Although she was grateful that she had company, he shouldn't care all that much if she broke her arm.

"You alright?" he said. "I heard Abyss broke your arm."

"Did they tell you?" She asked frantically. "Did they tell you?"

"Tell me what?" He looked confused, and by that she could tell he hadn't found out what she'd been doing. She sighed in relief.

"Nothing," she said.

"Well, I came to visit you because I knew no one else would," he said. "They don't seem to be fond of you these days, but personally I think you're a really nice girl."

She blushed. "Thank you. My brother came to see me but he had to leave early. I'm glad you came." She that he was going to find out what she's been doing someday, and that she would lose an only friend.

Emily stared into his eyes.

She, embarrassingly enough, wanted more than a friend out of him.


	4. Only Thought I Was Safe

_Author's Note: Aww, no reviews since chapter one? Come on y'all, I need encouragement! No, just kidding, lol. You guys do what you want. I promise it'll get better as it goes on!_

Emily stayed in the hospital 'til morning. When she woke up, it was 9:30 AM. AJ wasn't there, and the peace she had been feeling all night vanished. He must've left early. She was let go that day; the hospital figured she could take care of the wrecked arm herself.

By now, she figured that Mitchell had told management what she had been doing, and they probably gave her a call to tell her that she was fired. She took a plane home and turned on the answering machine.

"You have 1 new message," it said. _That's my firing call,_ she thought, and pressed the playing button.

"Hey Emily, it's AJ…I hope you don't mind me calling, I was just checking on you to see if you were alright, and if your arm was feeling better. Call me back, okay? Bye."

Emily blinked, totally ignoring the fact that AJ had called her. Mitchell hadn't told management? Why not?

She swallowed, and was grateful to still have her job. TNA gave her time off for her arm to heal.

Meanwhile, Emily was getting very close to AJ Styles.

There was something about him that she loved -- it wasn't so much that he was handsome, even though he certainly was -- but the fact that he was the only person she could trust, it made him special. He invited her out to coffee, lunch, even Ring of Honor events, all very randomly - he would just call her up and ask if she wants to come. She agreed to all of them; she wouldn't miss it for the world.

One night, when he was driving her home from a concert, he spoke out to her.

"When're you coming back?" He asked, touching the broken arm gently.

"Whenever it's healed," she said.

"I was pretty shocked when no one but me had pity on you when you broke your arm."

_I wasn't,_ she thought, but she decided against saying it. "No one really likes me anyway, I'm surprised you do."

"There's nothing bad about you," he said. "You're sweet, you're stunning, you're a good person altogether, and it's just plain stupid for Abyss to break your arm because – what – you're new? They're asses. All of them."

She blushed. She appreciated him calling her those things, but she wasn't any of them.

_I'm greedy,_ she thought. _I'm a greedy idiot who would do anything for money. Abyss had a reason for hurting me._

"I've been thinking," he said, "with all these things I've been taking you to – thanks for coming with me to them, by the way – would you like to come with me sometime to dinner?"

She blushed again. "Like…a date?"

"Yeah, a date."

Her heart was pounding to say yes, for a month they've been good friends, and now it was time to move on…but…no matter how far into a relationship they go, AJ was going to find out one day. Find out what she's been doing. And then she'd get her – and his – heart shattered into pieces. Her heart went out to the man, because he felt the same way about her, and if he really cared he wouldn't rush her.

"You know, I think a date isn't a good idea for me right now," she answered, trying to not get emotional. "I haven't gone out in awhile, it just doesn't seem very much a 'me' thing right now. I hope you understand."

"I don't mind," he said, "whatever you feel is best."

And they were silent the rest of the way home.

When they got to Emily's house, he gave her a hug before leaving. "You tell me when you're ready to love again," he said in a low voice. "Because when you are, I'm waiting for you."

- - -

It took two months for Emily's arm to heal enough, and when it did she was confident she could make it back to TNA safely. They put her in a match against Traci, in which she won. She was surprised that she got a quick victory like she did.

She went backstage to find AJ, who said he would be there. She called out for him, but no respond came. _He must just be busy doing something,_ she thought, and walked down a hall to the women's locker room.

Monty Brown and Alex Shelley were down the hall, God knows why they were down near the Women's locker room, and they both stopped talking when they saw her. They nodded to each other and Shelley stepped out in front of her.

"What's up baby?" he said, blocking her way. She looked up confusingly at him. "Excuse me," she said politely, and tried to get around him. This time Monty Brown got beside Shelley and blocked her way as well.

Emily backed away with her hands in front of her. "What do you guys want?"

They looked at each other, and then back at her. "We wanna make your life a living hell."

"Huh?" she squeaked. Shelley advanced towards her and grabbed her arm. Brown stayed where he was. Shelley threw her roughly against a wall and smacked her in the face. "Is it funny now, you dumb bitch? Is it funny now?"

She began to cry again, not so much because it hurt, but because she was confused. She's been gone for a month, why would the notes matter now?

Shelley hit her again, except this time it was a punch, right in the eye. It blurred for a second. Brown came over and kicked her in the leg. It turned to a full-on beat down, leaving her bleeding from the mouth and bruised all over. Shelley leaned over her and grabbed her by the hair.

"Tell McMahon that was a message from us."

Emily suddenly knew exactly what was going on, and why they were still mad at her.

Mitchell hadn't told management…he had told the wrestlers.


	5. Strawberry Gashes

Emily went home wounded that night. She didn't feel like going to the hospital, or getting her teeth checked. She just took a hot shower and went to bed. She couldn't even sleep because of the blood leaking to back of her throat, and the bruises on her legs.

Next week she returned but clung to AJ most the time. She told him that they attacked her, but of course, not _why_ they attacked her. He was furious and demanded a match against Alex Shelley, and Shelley accepted. Emily was scared and refused to come out during the match, despite the fact that she knew she'd be safer out there than backstage.

She was completely oblivious to the happenings of the match; she just sat there in some corner, knees pulled up to her chest, trying to hide herself from the wrestlers that walk by. Apparently Mitchell had never told AJ, because he seemed so unaware as to why they were mad at her. The situation was that of the movie _Open Water_– the only way out of it was to kill yourself, and since she was obviously not going to kill herself, what should she do?

Tell management. Get fired. That's the way out. Except in Emily's mind, killing yourself would be better than getting fired, so in this case the only choice is to deal with it. Deal with getting harassed, deal with getting beat up, hell, before she knows it they'll be raping her or running her over with a car. She tucked her head in and tensed, hoping that it would all be over soon.

"Excuse me."

She looked up. A crew member, one of the guys who set up the ring to be exact, stood over her. "Huh?" she said.

"I'm just wondering why you were sitting here…are you okay?" he asked.

"…not really, no."

"What's the matter?"

She glared at the man, who she didn't even know, and for some reason was angry with him. "I don't mean to sound rude, sir, but that's none of your business."

He shot her an angry look and walked off. She curled up back into her spot.

- - -

A little while later she saw Team Canada walking down the hall and tried to hide herself, pulling a table in front of her and waiting for them to pass by. D'Amore noticed, pulled the table away, and she screamed for help before they even touched her. Eric Young yanked her out of the corner and kicked her in the stomach.

"Just the little slut we were looking for," D'Amore said, and slapped her. Petey Williams pushed her down onto the floor and put a boot on her stomach when she tried to get up. Somewhere along the way Samoa Joe and Abyss got involved, and they beat her down as well.

When Emily got the chance she ran, hopping on one leg because they had been kicking the other. Abyss and Williams followed, obviously not done with her. She opened a door and ran right into AJ's chest.

"Help me!" she screamed, and wrapped her arms around him. He held her close, and she could tell that he was scared for her. He looked up at Abyss and Williams, who were now nearing the door.

"What's wrong with you?" he yelled irritably at them, and held onto Emily even tighter. "Why do guys keep going around attacking her like animals? She's done nothing to you."

Williams laughed. "Nothing? What the hell, man…you haven't heard? Mitchell didn't tell you?"

AJ blinked and bit his lip. "Tell me what?"

Emily yanked away from AJ and turned around. She pushed at Williams. "KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT!" She screamed at him, and smacked his face. "Just shut up for once!"

"Aww," Williams mocked. "Are you afraid you're gonna lose him too?"

"Please," she said. "I'll stop, you can hurt me all you want, just don't tell him, please--"

"Tell me what?" AJ repeated, looking from Emily to Williams to Abyss, who had pretty much just stood there the entire time.

"It's nothing," she said, turning back around to him. "Let's go." She grabbed his arm to leave, and before she knew it, she was stumbling to the ground and the world went black.

- - -

Emily woke up with bright lights staring down at her. She was lying in a bed; a cold stiff bed….a hospital. Again.

It all flashed back to her now. AJ couldn't have possibly hit her and knocked her out, so it must've been Williams. Who took her to the hospital? Did they tell AJ about her workings with WWE? _Of course they did,_ she thought, _or else AJ would be here with me right now._

A nurse walked in holding a bunch of flowers.

"Emily Hollings?"

She nodded.

"A young man just came by," she said, and held out the flowers. "He told me to give these to you."

Emily took the flowers and immediately checked the tag to see who it was from. _From Aaron,_ it said. Aaron. Aaron Hollings was Emily's brother, who lived in Tampa not far from her. He never really visited her because his job was so busy, but he knew the hardships she was going through.

Although, on the inside, she had hoped the flowers were from AJ.

Since they obviously had told him, although he liked her before, TNA was his life, and no way would he give that up for her. To find out your friend was tearing down TNA for some extra money…must've been overwhelming.

She looked down at her body to make sure nothing serious had happened. Her arm had a cast on it – they must've broken it again, the bastards – and there was something wrong with her forefinger, it was all bent up and disfigured. Broken. She looked up at the nurse.

"Can I have a mirror, please?"

The nurse hesitated. "I'm not so sure you want to see your face, ma'am, you've been crying a lot in your sleep and the injuries have swelled it up."

"Please," Emily said.

The nurse handed her the mirror. She took one look in and began to shed tears right away.

Her face was red and swelled, the top of her left eye crusted over with blood; her lips were busted, she was missing a tooth, and the hair at the hairline had been pulled out. "I'm sorry," the nurse said. "When men pound up on women the way they pound on other men, it just isn't a pretty site."

Emily threw the mirror down on the ground and covered her face with the bedspread. Her whole life had become a living hell; these men had no mercy, and for as long as she keeps coming to TNA they never will. And worst of all, she had no one to lean on now.

Another man came through the door. A doctor.

"Emily Hollings?"

A flame of sorrow went over her heart, and she looked straight in the man's eyes.

"I wish I wasn't."


	6. Walk Alone

The doctor leaned over a sleeping Emily Hollings. He touched the gashes and brushed a curl from her face. "Poor girl," he sighed, and put a damp cloth on her head to keep her from over-heating.

She startled from her sleep and thrashed around violently for a second before going still. She shot a look at the doctor, and then around the room.

"…I'm okay?" she asked him.

"You're fine. We're gonna take care of you for a few days, alright?"

She nodded and went back to sleep.

Emily woke up to a small morning light, and sat up in her bed. A nurse was in the room tending to another patient. She turned around and saw Emily's eyes open.

"Welcome back to the real world sweetie," the nurse said, and walked over. She laid a hand on Em's bed. "You were asleep for two days you know. We thought you had gone into a coma."

"Two days?" she asked, except it didn't come out normal -- her voice was squeaky and throaty; in fact it was just about gone. It also hurt when she spoke.

"Lost your voice?" the nurse said. "I'll get you some water sweetie, hold on for a minute." She walked out of the room and Emily was alone again.

For some reason, now, she liked being alone.

- - -

The hospital let her out after six days of healing. Her face and arms were still swelled and red, with some scars, so she put on a black hoodie so no one could see her face well.

When she entered her home it was quiet and for some reason filthier then she remembered it. There were 5 messages on her answering machine, the first three from her brother, one from her friend Anna, and one from Larry Zybszko, who called her to say that he was sorry for the recent actions of the roster and he was going to do something about it ASAP.

She didn't return any of the calls, and because of that, she never received one for the rest of the day.

Emily had two dreams that night.

The first dream was of Emily's 8-year old sister, Amanda, playing with some dolls at the edge of a cliff. She looked up at Emily, who was crying because of who knows, and blinked.

"Why are you crying, Emily?" she asked, and James Mitchell walked up and pushed the little girl off the cliff.

Em shot upright in her bed, sweat coming down her forehead. She rubbed it off – it was just a dream, not real at all. Her sister was at home somewhere, sleeping peacefully. _She must be dead lucky then, _Em thought, and went back to sleep.

Her second dream was of her walking down a seemingly never-ending bridge in the rain. She walked right up into a man, who was standing at the edge of the bridge, looking out into the lake underneath. She stood next to him and did the same.

"Kind of nice isn't it?" He said, and turned his face towards her. He was exactly who Emily expected him to be in a dream – AJ Styles. He took her hand and they started down the bridge together. They weren't going anywhere, Em knew, because this was just a dream. But she never wanted to wake up again.

Somewhere along the way she got to humming the song she heard on the way home from the hospital; "Forever Yours" by Nightwish. It suited the environment quite well, she thought, and began singing the actual words.

_Whatever walks in my heart,_

_Will walk alone._

_Constant longing for the perfect soul,_

_Unwashed scenery forever gone._

_No love left in me,_

_No eyes to see the heaven beside me._

_My time is yet to come,_

_So I'll be forever yours._

AJ pulled her close to his chest. "You have a beautiful voice," he said, "keep singing."

Being a fairly short song, she just sung the chorus over and over again, while walking down the endless road in front of her.

AJ stopped and got out in front of her. He gave her a quick hug and said, "You know this isn't real, right?" A shiver ran through her body, but she ignored it and smiled.

"Yeah, I know."

Then he just vanished.

She let out a small sob, crumbled down to the ground, and looked up at the dim, raining sky above. The lovely voice echoed in her head as she faded to black…

_Whatever walks in my heart,_

_Will walk alone._

- - -

Meanwhile, AJ himself was falling apart.

He couldn't believe Emily. Everything she said to him could've been a lie. While the guys' actions were a little severe on her, how could she deceive TNA like that? And for what? A little money? All she could've done is ask TNA for a raise. She should probably just go to WWE if she cared so much about money, anyway.

But, there was a part inside him that would miss her. There was a part inside him that felt sorry for her, and there was a part inside him that simply couldn't hurt her.

There was a part inside him that still loved her.

He wanted to see her again someday, he realized. He wanted to hold on to her again, to make sure she was okay. The best for that girl right now, well at least to his opinion, is to leave TNA because there was no way she could hide from the roster forever. They were going to keep attacking her, doing the sickest things possible, building up so much fatigue and emotional trauma that it's guaranteed she'll just fall to the floor dead within a month.

When he got home from a TNA event that evening, he called her home phone.

Nobody answered. He called two more times. Still no answer.

He tried one more time, and gave up. She must be out somewhere, and although he knew her cell phone number, he didn't call. He didn't want to bother her with whatever she was doing.

In the middle of the night, Emily called him.

"Em?" he said into the phone, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Why are you calling me right now? Did you get my calls?"

"I'm starting to have dreams about you," she said, "I miss you."

"You know I miss you too, but you need to wait before we can see each other again. You need to pull yourself together first."

"I can't put my life back together unless you're going to help me," she said, starting to cry. "I want to come to TNA without getting hurt."

"Don't come to TNA, please," he said. "We can see each other again someday, I swear, but right now you need a break from everything. You need a vacation, or some time with your family, but don't come to another TNA event 'til you're at least healed. These guys are ruthless, Em, they'll never forgive and they'll never forget. Until you think you're ready, don't come back. I love you and you know I do. But right now is a bad time to be calling - it's two in the morning. Goodnight."

Then he hung up.

Emily went into such a crying and shrieking fit that a neighbor called the police.

When they arrived, she was simply in her bed sleeping soundly.


	7. In Love, In Peace

A week later, Emily received an email from Vince McMahon; he was asking where she had been. God, she forgot entirely about him. She replied to the email quickly.

_Hello Mr. McMahon,_

_Sorry about lack of notes and stuff. I just wanted you to know some bad things have happened to me while I have been working for you, and I am beyond terrified of the men I work with. I have, I believe, lost my only friend because of doing this._

_I'm sure you know what I'm going for here, but just in case, I quit. Don't blame yourself – you did nothing but come up with the idea, and I accepted thoughtlessly. I have no one to blame but myself. I hope you value my opinions and understand why I am quitting on WWE._

_Best of luck to you,_

_Emily M. Hollings_

It seemed like a suitable enough "I Quit" letter, although she felt something was missing from it. Oh well.

After that night of quitting on WWE, Emily through herself into fixing her job with TNA.

She began to work out a lot, which was quite a stress reliever actually. She ate a lot more protein, and just ate a lot more in general actually. She wanted to follow what AJ had said and be ready when she comes back. Ready to take a beating. It was completely worth it now.

Her family disagreed – well at least her parents did. They insisted that she just give up TNA and find a new job and forget completely about it. But her brother was on her side. She loved her job, and she wanted it to be the way it was.

_All my thoughts are with you forever,_

_Until the day_

_We'll be back together_

_I will be waiting for you_

- - -

AJ was trying to forget about Emily.

It didn't seem right anymore, for her to simply be doing her job, and get the crap beat out of her. The only one who wouldn't hurt her was himself, as far as now goes. He felt like he needed to protect her even though she wasn't even there, and she was the only thing he could think about while wrestling. He needed to forget her right now – the day will come when she comes back to TNA, and he'll see her then – but right now he needs to focus on himself.

One night, after a match with Jeff Hardy, he walked down the halls backstage for a soda machine. America's Most Wanted was hanging out, along with Gail Kim.

"Where's your girlfriend been?" she asked.

"Healing, because of you people," he answered. "She's getting better, though."

They just sort of laughed. AJ somehow knew why they would always bring her up.

"You're bored," he said. They looked kind of confused at first.

"You're bored because you have no one to pick on," he said heatedly, "once she comes back you're just going to do it again because you've gotten so used to it. She doesn't carry the notes around anymore. It's not about the betrayal anymore, it's about her, and how she's the only one left for you to beat up. I can't believe I didn't realize in the first place how much of a dumbass you people are."

They were silent. He could see it behind their eyes that they knew he was right.

Next week Larry Zybszko told AJ not to worry about wrestling – he had no matches scheduled for tonight. He hung out, just in case _she_ might arrive…

He looked at his cellphone, and he did have a text message from her.

_Hi AJ,_

_You probably don't want to be talking to me right now, but I just want you to know I quit on WWE. I had completely forgotten about it, and when I did remember, it was the best thing for me just to quit._

_Emily_

"Get my message?" said a soft voice from behind him. He recognized it as Em's, but when he turned around, he didn't believe it was her.

She was wearing sunglasses and a black hoodie, with her usually loose curls tied back. She smiled at him. "I don't want them to know it's me," she said, "it's been effective so far. They thought I was one of the backstage workers."

He stared at her, shocked at first that she would come so early. His expression then changed into pure joy and he hugged her tightly. "Why right now?" he asked, still holding on to her.

"Because I feel better," she said, "I feel better and I'm just not scared anymore. I'm going to fix my job, and I'm going to fix our relationship."

"Fix your job?"

She pulled away from him and raised an eyebrow. "I told you -- I'm just not scared anymore. I quit WWE. It's going to be scary for me, but in order to fix everything I'm going to have to tell management that I _was_ working for WWE. And what's the harm; nothing happened to TNA, right?"

"I don't know, Em, you might get suspended or something…" he said nervously.

"That's okay," she said, "because I'm still here no matter what. And I'm still with you."

- - -

They didn't end up telling management until next week, however. They were mad -- some even mad at the roster for beating Emily up instead of reporting her – but they didn't fire her because no harm came to TNA due to the small amount of information she gave to WWE. She was suspended, yes, but only for a month. It gave her a little more time to rest and heal entirely.

As for her and AJ, well, they grew closer and closer during her suspension; in fact some said it was safe to say they were in the boyfriend/girlfriend category. Emily's parents still weren't content – they had wanted her to date somebody outside of TNA (they had never been okay with her being a part of it in the first place), but she explained to them how happy she was with him, and how he felt the same, and they gave sympathy to her and tried to understand from there.

**A month later**

**July 17th, 2006**

Just around two months ago, Emily thought she would never be able to show her face in a TNA arena again without getting the holy hell beat out of her. Yet here she was, standing backstage with her boyfriend, perfectly fine, scheduled for a match tonight against Traci Brooks.

Sure she still got some evil looks from some of the roster, most notably James Mitchell and "Jarrett's Army", but nobody ever hurt her or even threatened to hurt her. That problem was all taken care of by management; "leave her alone or get fired," is what they said, and that shut them up.

When it came time for her match (which she was excited about due to a severe case of ring rust) AJ gave her a small kiss and fifty cents. She looked confusingly at the change.

"Just in case you need water from the soda machine," he said, reminding her of the first time she bumped into him, and him buying her that water…maybe it by fate that they met, or God, but whatever power did it, she couldn't thank it enough times.

"Don't get hurt out there," he said.

She smiled. "Ditto."

Traci came out first, being her normal cheerful self. Emily had made a fine friend out of her since the whole case with WWE had ended, and was glad to be having a match with her.

_Ice Queen _by Within Temptation hit, and Emily ran to the ring in her own style of wrestling gear – white glitter halter top (hence the title of her theme), blue mini skirt, double knee pads and some sneakers. Her and Traci shook hands and started what would turn out to be a 15-minute match.

It started out with some simple Irish whips, and got rougher as they attempted dives from the turnbuckle and clotheslines. Even though the match was competitive and slightly aggressive, they maintained their intelligence and were good sports. Emily won the match with a rollup. Traci seemed slightly put off by the win because Em hadn't wrestled in so long, but was happy enough anyways.

AJ ran down to the ring and held her hand up in victory. They kissed again in front of everybody.

Emily Marianna Hollings was back, in love and at last in peace.

**- - -**

_Author's Note: Yup, that's it y'all! The end. Seems like a short story, but I'm pretty content with how it worked out and I hope my fans are too. Nice happy ending, lol. I can't wait to get started on some new stories that I'm sure you guys will love. You can PM me with some ideas if you want._


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